Lance Armstrong was today stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and told he “has no place in cycling” by the head of the sport’s world governing body.

Lance Armstrong was today stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and told he “has no place in cycling” by the head of the sport’s world governing body.

The International Cycling Union accepted the findings of a United States Anti-doping Agency investigation which concluded Armstrong and his United States Postal Service team ran “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.

USADA stripped the 41-year-old American of all results from August 1, 1998, including his record run of Tour triumphs from 1999 to 2005, and issued him with a life ban in August, sanctions the UCI ratified today.

At a media conference in Geneva, UCI president Pat McQuaid said: “(The UCI) will not appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and it will recognise the sanctions that USADA has imposed.

“The UCI will ban Lance Armstrong from cycling and the UCI will strip him of his seven Tours de France titles.

“Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling.”

A special meeting of the UCI’s management committee will take place on Friday to discuss the “exact sporting consequences” of the decision, including whether the titles and prize money will be re-distributed.

The International Olympic Committee will await Friday’s UCI meeting and further information before a decision is made on the bronze medal Armstrong won in Sydney in 2000.

Armstrong refused to co-operate with USADA, who earlier this month published their 1000-page report.

In accordance with the World Anti-doping Code, the UCI had 21 days to respond, until October 31.

Rather than taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the UCI accepted the findings of USADA.

Armstrong or the World Anti-doping Agency could yet take the case to CAS.

While addressing the past, McQuaid was steadfast in his belief that cycling has a positive future, but he admitted it was nigh on impossible to rid the sport of drug abuse.

He said: “Will it ever be free from doping? That’s a very difficult question to answer.

“I’d probably, to be honest with you, would say no, because I don’t think in any aspect of society there are no cheats.

“I do believe that doping can be hugely reduced. A lot of it is in education programmes, how the teams are structured and what support elements the teams give the riders, to ensure when they go into a danger zone and feel like taking something that they decide not to.”

The UCI has long been criticised for its leadership surrounding doping, but McQuaid appeared determine to remain in his post.

There have been numerous calls for the Irishman, who became president in 2005, and his predecessor Hein Verbruggen, now honorary president, to resign.

McQuaid said: “The UCI always had a commitment to the fight against doping and a commitment to try and protect clean riders and to try and get cheats out of our sport.

“And if I have to apologise now on behalf of the UCI what I will say is I am sorry that we couldn’t catch every damn one of them red-handed and throw them out of the sport.”

Armstrong’s defence long relied on never having tested positive. He was tested 218 times by the UCI, who insisted the responsibility should be shared with other anti-doping agencies who also tested Armstrong.

McQuaid pointed to the omerta – a code of silence within the peloton – as the biggest obstacle to fighting doping and insisted the revelations contained within the USADA report came only when witnesses were faced with the prospect of perjury charges.

“When you look at this case you can see quite clearly without the assistance of police it wouldn’t have happened,” McQuaid added.

“It wasn’t until the intervention of the federal agents in the United States, when they called these riders in and they placed a gun and a badge in front of them on the table and told them ’you are facing a grand jury, you now must tell the truth’. Those riders broke down and many of them did break down.

“The UCI doesn’t have those powers, USADA themselves don’t have those powers and most of the major busts in doping these days are done by police.”

The testimony of 11 former team-mates of Armstrong was key and they received six-month bans, which were also ratified by the UCI.

McQuaid added: “The UCI will also recognise the sanctions imposed on the riders who testified against Lance Armstrong; UCI indeed thanks them for telling their stories.”

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THE name Lance Armstrong is to be expunged from the record books after cycling’s world governing body yesterday accepted a recommendation to strip the American of his seven Tour de France titles and ban him for life.

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